Ansonia’s next local election is more than a year away, but two prominent Democrats are lining up bids to make David Cassetti a one-term mayor.
Alderman Edward Adamowski said he intends to run for mayor next year, and former Alderman David Knapp said he’s considering a run as well.
Democrats dominated the political scene in Ansonia for more than a decade under the leadership of former Mayor James Della Volpe, who served from 1999 to 2014.
But they were trounced in last November’s elections by energetic Republicans led by Cassetti, who harped on the city’s high property taxes en route to taking the mayor’s office and a 9 – 5 majority on the Board of Aldermen.
Adamowski won re-election last November by 11 votes over his closest Republican challenger.
He was one of four Democrats to keep Aldermen’s seats in the election, which saw four Democratic incumbents on the board lose re-election bids.
An assistant chief in the Ansonia Fire Department and an employee at Sippin Energy Products, Adamowski was first elected to the Board of Aldermen in 2009.
He was one of few Democrats in Ansonia who confronted the GOP’s in-your-face campaign last year with rebukes of his own.
For instance, he pointed out Cassetti’s business was months late paying taxing to the city, after which the taxes were quickly paid.
The most outspoken Democrat currently serving on the Board of Aldermen, Adamowski has been a relentless critic of the Cassetti administration, calling foul on a number of issues, from how the mayor handled the firing of the city’s economic development director to saying the GOP was trying to make political hay out of a shortfall in one of the city’s pension pans.
Adamowski took over leadership of the Ansonia Democratic Town Committee this summer from Eileen Krugel.
“That is my intention,” he told the Valley Indy Thursday in reply to the question of whether he would run for mayor.
He noted the election is more than a year away and “there’s a lot that could happen.”
He slammed the budget Cassetti’s administration passed earlier this year, saying the spending plan cut funding to departments it should be investing in, such as police and public works.
“So much damage is being done it’s going to be hard to rebuild from this,” Adamowski said.
One of the unknowns for Adamowski’s candidacy — whether he’ll face a fight for the Democratic party’s nomination. At least one prominent city Democrat, David Knapp, is also considering a run to oust Cassetti.
Knapp lost his re-election bid last November by 64 votes. He had served as an Alderman since 2010, when he was appointed to complete the term of Tara Kolakowski, who vacated the seat to become Della Volpe’s government liaison.
A grants manager at Yale University, Knapp was originally elected to the board in 1999 but stepped aside after about five years to handle work obligations.
Though he lost his re-election bid he has nonetheless been a regular at Aldermen’s meetings and speaks out on public issues. In May, for instance, he raised concerns to Cassetti about the mayor’s redevelopment plan for Olson Drive.
Both men were in City Hall Wednesday night to raise concerns about proposals to revise the city’s charter.
Outside Wednesday’s public hearing of the Charter Revision Commission, the Valley Indy asked Knapp whether he plans to run for mayor next year.
“I might,” he replied, quickly noting that the election is more than a year away, and that he hadn’t yet done much serious planning.
Though both noted the time until they’ll actually announce, their candidacies have been rumored for months.
“I’ve had a lot of support behind my decision to run,” Adamowski said.
The city’s highest-placed Democrat, Town Clerk Elizabeth Lynch, said Friday that either Adamowski or Knapp would make good candidates.
“They both have experience,” Lynch said.
Though Democrats enjoy a more than two-to-one registration advantage over Republicans in Ansonia, Lynch pointed out unaffiliated voters outnumber everyone.
“To me (party registration) doesn’t mean anything anymore,” she said, citing last year’s Republican upset as proof.
It will be the job of local Democrats to convince the unaffiliated voters who broke for Cassetti in last year’s vote to change their minds, she said.
Cassetti said Thursday he intends to run for re-election, and is proud of his record as mayor so far.
He said he has no preference with respect to an eventual opponent.
“Either one,” the mayor said. “Bring ‘em on.”
